


Three Tenths

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [367]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: F/M, post-up from the depths pt 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 11:00:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8665054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: anon requested: pen and ink, lady p finding out about gordon nearly dYING in part 1





	

The digital rewind was silent; Penny thought that it deserved the scratchy, screetching noises of the old tapes as they scrubbed back and forth along the timeline.

But this recording was silent, the images flickering for just a moment before they resolved.  Penny had watched the recording so often, she could land every time now exactly on the moment Four’s hull started failing.

His helmet was still sealing even as the bulkheads buckled.  

Penny knew Gordon dealt in microseconds – he’d won his gold by just three-tenths of a seconds, after all.  Kayo had told her once that Four was a finicky beast, as twitchy as a thoroughbred, demanding split-second adjustments.  

But his helmet wasn’t sealed, and the bulkheads were buckling, and if he’d been three-tenths of a second slower getting out of his chair, stepping onto the suit up platform, choosing to go manual, then Penny would be wearing black right now, her heart breaking into a million pieces as he watched him die over and over again.

An old, grizzled hand closed over hers as she reached out to rewind the video once more.  Penny didn’t realize she was crying until she sniffed, looking up past Parker at the pale cornicework on the ceiling.

Parker took her tablet, handed her a tissue.  “I _h-_ expect,” he said, with a propriety that felt warm and familiar.  “That Master Gordon would be just finishing his usual laps of the pool about now.”  Her compact appeared in  his hand.  “Perhaps he might like company for breakfast?”

Penny smiled weakly and nodded.  Parker retreated as silently as he’d arrived.

As she fixed her makeup, Sherbert leapt onto the sofa, resting his tiny head against her thigh.

She stroked his ears for a moment, then flipped open the comm.

In the holo, Gordon’s hair was wet, spiky from the pool.  “Morning, Your Ladyship,” he said with a cheeky, beaming smile.  “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Penny let herself, just for three-tenths of a second, fall in love again with his smile.  “Just checking in,” she said, matching his brightness.

Gordon’s grin grew, eyes sparkling, and Penny knew that three-tenths of a second could feel like an eternity.


End file.
